Savory Greek pastry bites are the perfect party dish

Carol Kicinski

This Greek-inspired appetizer is the perfect gluten-free dish for your next cocktail party!

Savory Greek pastry bites are the perfect party dish

In a perfect world (at least my perfect world), meals would consist of appetizers and desserts. Obviously it is not practical to eat appetizers and desserts at every meal – I mean it would be a little time consuming coming up with all that mini-food – but we can certainly entertain that way. In fact that is my very favorite way to entertain, cocktail parties with small bites – some savory, some sweet.
When I am the one hosting a party, I get to choose all the foods I personally adore. This is one of the many reasons I really like entertaining!
I love Greek food but being gluten-free I often can’t indulge in some of my favorites from before. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t reinvent them to be gluten free. These Spanakopita Bites are a perfect example.
Traditionally spanakopita is a spinach cheese filling folded into triangles with layers of filo dough brushed with butter. I have yet to master (or to be perfectly honest, ever even tried to make) gluten free filo dough so I improvised and baked a traditional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray two (24 each) mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
Put the pine nuts in a dry skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine the focaccia mix, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 4 eggs, water, and 1 cup parmesan cheese. Dump the mixture out onto a clean work surface and knead until a smooth dough forms, about 1 – 2 minutes. Divide into 48 equal sized balls. Place the balls in the muffin tins and make an indentation with your thumb into each ball forming a cup.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the scallions and cook for 1 minute. Squeeze all the moisture from the spinach and add to the onions. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is totally dry. Put in a mixing bowl; add the reserved pine nuts, feta, ricotta, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Spoon the filling into the cups. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup parmesan on top of the cups and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

spanakopita filling into little cups made with gluten-free focaccia mix. Doing so makes them not only gluten free but grain free as well.
This recipe makes a lot of little bites – perfect for a party. If you have too

(and I seriously doubt that) you can always freeze them. Just wrap them up well after being baked and cooled then freeze for up to a month. Defrost and then re-heat at 350 for a few minutes until hot.

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